Nassif ‘unhelpful’ as search for missing Toplace funds continues
Developer Jean Nassif has been uncooperative with administrators picking apart his collapsed Toplace building empire and now they have more time to chase money owed.
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Fugitive developer Jean Nassif has not co-operated with the administrators of his collapsed Toplace building empire, a Sydney meeting was told on Tuesday as creditors backed plans to keep chasing missing funds.
Creditors of the runaway developer now face a further wait as they try to recuperate losses by backing a plan to keep going after missing funds for up to 10 months.
They backed a plan by administrator dVT, which is fighting to get some money back despite the developer decamping to Lebanon after a series of contested transfers out of the business.
The administration has been partly hampered by the appointment of a rival group over some Toplace companies and secured creditors including PAG, Commonwealth Bank and NAB, as well as La Trobe Financial and MaxCap stepping in on some assets.
The reconvened second creditors meeting for Toplace Pty saw creditors vote to put in place a holding Deed of Company Arrangement for the group for up to 10 months.
This will allow administrator dVT to maximise the value of any further asset sales and further focus on recovering funds. The firm has already reviewed more than 17,000 separate transactions from 2020 to 2023.
This showed cash misuse and underscored systemic issues within Toplace Group, such as a lack of appropriate policies and controls, potential misuse of funds or fraud, and violation of director duties, dVT said.
Mr Nassif’s actions risked “adversely impacting” hundreds if not thousands of people, the firm said, saying it would work with relevant authorities in addressing his actions where they were inside its remit. The firm said the majority of creditors and strata representatives would benefit from this process.
The holding DOCA gives them time before Toplace companies are dragged into liquidation, or an alternative plan is revealed.
While the holding deed is on foot, dVT will keep investigating potential actions that may help creditors. It said that while no return would be paid to ordinary unsecured creditors while the holding arrangement was afoot, it was aiming to maximise returns.
Mr Nassif has promised to fix up crumbling Toplace apartment buildings if NSW police drop a warrant for his arrest, but administrators keep uncovering further problems in his empire.
Their update report this month revealed that Mr Nassif had borrowed $7,147,971 from the company – much more than the $3,255,583 he acknowledged.
DVT’s report said the developer had traded insolvent since 2020 and had transferred money offshore via the Bank of Beirut ahead of Toplace’s failure.
Originally published as Nassif ‘unhelpful’ as search for missing Toplace funds continues
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